in the Foreign Service

Placement Anxiety

Seriously, the word soon is pure evil. It has been over a week now since Placement sent me an email about October departure. What are they waiting on? Please can I have an invite? Pretty please?
I am getting really anxious (I know I should be patient and I have been for over 4 months). 9 weeks until October 1. The anxiety of this unknown limbo is literally making me inoperable. It is all I think about, every single minute of every single day. I JUST WANT TO KNOW. I am barely getting by at work. I feel like I am going to cry all the time. The stress is getting to me. And it is making me fat! I am trying to calm myself, too bad it is with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with Ritter Sport and Nutter Butters.
Every day that goes by my self-esteem plummets a little more.

Honestly, leaving in 2012 would probably be better. I would have more time to save up money. The countries slated for October though seem like a perfect fit to me.

Dear Peace Corps, please stop playing games with my heart 🙂 (and now the backstreet boys will be stuck in my head alllll day)

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One thought on “Placement Anxiety”

Oh, how easily the feelings of anxiety can resurface by simply reading about those of others. I waited four months after submitting my complete medical packet until I heard from the Review Nurse. Then, I was told everything appeared fine and I should hear from a Placement Specialist in a few weeks. I do not want to increase your current level of anxiety, but that was in the first week of December (2010). I will give you another piece of solid advice after telling you this – – – I finally heard from a Placement Specialist in April, 2011. Now, here is the advice: Pay heed to a PC clue in one of their publications – – – IF you have not heard from a Placement Specialist by eight weeks prior to your nominated departure date, contact your Recruiter and ask for the name and direct phone number of your Placement Specialist. Then call that person. I had not found that clue until my nominated departure date had passed. However, when I did contact my recruiter and followed through, I received an invitation within two weeks. I am now awaiting Staging in September.
Some final words of encouragement: Realize that the eventual placement will be a good one for you and your skills. I am glad that I received the Placement I have received and not the one for which I had been nominated. Also, accept the wait time as a ‘gift’ to do what you can to really organize your life in preparation for leaving the States for two years and do all you can in the time allowed to try to get yourself in the best physical condition you can. You will need to have a considerably high level of endurance to walk everywhere. I began walking for all errands within two miles of home, plus hiking wooded trails on weekends and found that I really needed to do this. I feel better prepared and those activities (planning and walking, plus going to the gym every other day) gave me a mental focus with a schedule that alleviated my anxieties and filled my time so that I could control the compulsion to constantly check my toolkit/PCWiki/PCJournals/Etc.
Best wishes!